A fine bothy for a party!

We circled round to the north side of Eilean Mor in the MacCormaig Isles and entered its surprisingly sheltered natural harbour. There is a seventh century turf roofed chapel, which we had explored on a previous visit but this time we wanted to get a closer look at a rather ancient looking turf roofed bothy on the west side of the inlet.


There was an awkward rocky landing at the foot of a steep stone flight of steps. We wondered if we were following in the footsteps of the saints!


Closer inspection of the bothy revealed an inset stone with Celtic carving. The word "Failte" (welcome) was inscribed above a shield device below which the date was a surprisingly recent 1995! Despite the inscription, the door was secured by two stout padlocks. It turns out that the island and the bothy belong to the Scottish National Party. Presumably admission is by Party card.


Somewhat disillusioned, we climbed back down to our waiting kayaks. Meanwhile the north going flood had built up nicely, promising a speedy return trip.

02/01/2009

All kinds of everything on the way to Danna.

After our encounter with the otters we had a very brisk paddle into the teeth of a bitingly cold easterly wind.


Our destination was a sheltered beach at the south end of the island of Danna. It is a tidal island linked by a narrow causeway to the south end of the Tayvallich peninsula of Knapdale. Together with the MacCormaig Isles, it forms a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) noted for habitat, plants, birds and geology.


We had rather a hurried and cold luncheon and promised ourselves a further stop.


Our sights were on the gap between Eilean Ghamhna and conical Corr Eilean topped by its prehistoric cairn. There was a colony of very large grey seals basking on the rocks.


The next crossing to Eilean Mor was complicated by both wind and tide. Ahead of us, it got a little bumpy at the southern end of the island. You can just see the chapel and cross on the hill.


Round the corner all was calm again but we noted that the north going flood had already started over an hour before predicted. Tide times in the Sound of Jura are influenced by air pressure and we were in the middle of an unseasonal high.


With a fair tide and a little effort we got up to 13km/hour.

02/01/2009

Tides and otters in the Sound of Jura.

We arrived at Carsaig Bay just as the sun was coming up. It was high water and all looked calm. The bay is a sheltered inlet off the Sound of Jura but across its mouth the waters surge back and forwards through the Dorus Mor and the Corryvreckan tide races at speeds of 4 to 9 knots. It is very helpful to consult a set of tide tables before launching here, unless one is prepared to enjoy a magical mystery tour to these two most interesting of sea kayaking destinations.


As it was, the ebb had just started and we were carried south to a group of most attractive islands. Here we are in the sheltered narrow channel between Eilean Traighe and Eilean Dubh.


Further on, the tide was running strongly through the channel between Eilean Fraoch and Eilean nan Coinean as we ferried across the narrow gap between them.


It was very pleasant having tidal assistance as we made our way down the rocky shore of the Sound of Jura at a steady 7-8km/hr with only light paddling.


As we neared the point of Rubha na Cille, we caught our first sight of our destination on the horizon, the MacCormaig Islands. We also spotted a disturbance in the water ahead. It was two young otters playing a pretty violent looking game of tag with one another. They were not particularly bothered by our presence!

02/01/2009

Catching the 08:15 for the MacCormaig Islands

Powerful spring tides drew us towards the inaccessible MacCormaig Islands. These tiny scraps of land, torn from the lands of Knapdale, are isolated by the swirling waters of the Sound of Jura.

Today we also had biting cold easterly winds which numbed our fingers.


We used the 08:15 ebb tide to carry us from Carsaig Bay down to the MacCormaigs. We then used the flood to carry us home. We covered 35km and, with tidal assistance, arrived home before dark, the first time in a while!

02/01/2009

Sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar 2009

I wish a very Happy New Year to all visitors to seakayakphoto.com. As way of a celebration of the last year and in anticipation of sea kayaking adventures yet to come, here is the 5th annual sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar from seakayakphoto.com.


January, winter sunset off the Mull of Galloway.


February, crossing from Bute to Arran with a great view of the hills of Glen Sannox.



March, the distant outline of Arran from Culzean Bay, on the Carrick coast of Ayrshire.


April, Geoda Tobha, Pabaigh Mor, Loch Rog, Lewis.


May, approaching stacs Soay and Biorach in the Hirta Soay gap, St Kilda.


June, the Stac Lee gannet colony with Hirta and Soay in the distance, St Kilda.


July, the Caolas Scarp, between Scarp and Harris.


August, the lonely bothy, Islay.


September, an elephant emerges from the mist, Sanda, Mull of Kintyre.


October, the Great Race in the Gulf of Corryvreckan between Scarba and Jura.


November, the Sgurr of Eigg from the Sound of Arisaig.


December,mid winter sunset behind Ailsa Craig from the Dunure Skerries, Firth of Clyde.


This shows the locations of the photos in the 2009 calendar. We were very lucky to get round so many truly great sea kayaking places on the west coast!

The calendar is available for download here and is available in the four most common screen resolutions used by visitors to this site. New this year is the replacement of 800x600 by 1024x600, the rise of the netbook!

Ebb tide in the Lynn of Lorn

Although the sun was now shining on the Morven summits the Appin shore was still gripped by frost and shade. The Sgeir Bhuidhe lighthouse lies just offshore. It was built at the end of the 19th century but by 2001 was badly in need of replacement. The Northern Lighthouse Board were originally going to replace it with a standard rectangular structure but fortunately sense prevailed and the replacement was modelled on the old structure. The light has two flashes every seven seconds with white and red sectors. The original lantern is now on display in the village.


Jennifer and I ferry glided out into the ebb tide in the Lynn of Lorn. The 5km/hr current soon carried us away down the Lynn leaving the little Isle of Shuna far behind. Note that there is another Shuna 42km further SSW, to the east of Luing.


Alan and Tony were still in the shade as early morning mist hung over the wooded shores of Appin.


Then at last the sun cleared the hills and David and Phil were left blinking in its strong light. With a fair tide we were now off on our 37 km circumnavigation of Lismore.

27/12/2008

Port Appin dawn

Port Appin is a sleepy little village which nestles below the mountains of Appin which seperate Loch leven and Loch Creran on Argyll's rugged west coast. Port Appin was never a fishing port but it served as a stopping point in the 19th century for steamers travelling between Glasgow and Edinburgh via the Crinan and Caledonian canals.


Today it serves two small ferries. This is the Lismore which carries foot passengers across the Lynn of Lorn to the beautiful island of Lismore. In Gaelic, Lismore means the big garden. It is more fertile than many of the Scottish islands because of the presence of limestone rock. From 1800 till 1934 this was quarried and heated in lime kilns to produce lime for agriculture on the west coast and building in Glasgow.

The quarrying tradition in these parts started again in 1986 when the Glensanda quarry opened. It is one of Europe's biggest quarries and its granite rock was used to make the channel tunnel. Glensanda quarry is removing an entire mountain, Meall na Easaiche, on the Morven coast on the far side of Loch Linnhe, beyond Lismore. It is situated just behind the mountains in the sunshine in the photo above. Another ferry carries local workers from Port Appin across Loch Linnhe to Glensanda.


We were bound for a circumnavigation of Lismore and also chose to launch from Port Appin. We carried the boats over frost covered seaweed in the predawn light. Although we were still in freezing shade, there was a lovely pink glow in the sky reflected from the tops of the high mountains which were already in sunshine.


We planned a clockwise circumnavigation. It is 37 km and we knew that it would be dark before we finished as sunset would be about 15:34.

On 27/12/2008 HW Oban was at 05:35 and 17:49. The tidal constant at Port Appin is -00:05 Oban. It was one day before springs.

At the Lynn of Lorn south end (1 knot springs), the ebb (SW) starts at -01:40 Oban which was 16:09 on our trip. The flow (NE) starts at +04:45 Oban which was 10:20.

At the Lynn of Lorn north end (2.5 knots springs), the ebb (SW) starts at -00:15 Oban which was 17:35. The flow NE starts at +06:00 Oban which was 11:35.

On the NE going flood an eddy runs SW from the islands along the SE coast of Lismore so we reckoned we would have tidal assistance for most of the day.

27/12/2008